Unbottled

“What if I told you my curse was broken? What would you say?”

A look of horror flitted across Kyo’s face. “That’s not funny, Momiji.”

*****

Momiji smiled darkly. He thought it was ironic. Very ironic, in fact, that he had the one thing that Kyo and all the other zodiac members wanted the most. They all fought for it, cried over it, sacrificed the very essence of themselves for it.

Freedom.

And Kyo was the one who had given it to him.

And it was even more ironic that while Momiji had the freedom Kyo wanted most, Kyo had what he wanted most.

Her.

He didn’t blame Kyo, of course...not entirely. Kyo was simply clueless to what he had. And to what he had done. Through his determination and love, Kyo had become almost…human. He didn’t know that he had made it possible for Momiji to accept him as a real person, as more than just the cat. Momiji had learned that Kyo wasn’t one he could look down on. And that was the key to his freedom. He had gained the one thing he had always wanted.

And had lost other things.

He lost a bond. Probably the truest and deepest bond he would ever experience. He hadn’t realized it mattered so much. He knew he was going to miss it, in some weird way. Some dark, twisted way. The tears were still flowing freely down his face, burning the memory of their bond into his skin. The bond that had been so forcibly held in his heart for so long.

And he lost her.

Maybe Kyo hadn’t realized he had competition. Even Momiji had to laugh out loud at the absurdity of that thought, the tears still burning. He probably hadn’t realized. Kyo barely even realized why he was fighting, at this point.

She didn’t even realize she was being fought over.

But he loved her anyway. He loved her so much…that’s why he fought the curse, fought Kyo with a different kind of dislike.

So what if she didn’t know he loved her? He had accepted that already. There was so much he didn’t know. What her favorite color was. What food she hated the most. Her biggest hopes. Her smallest fears.

Why…why she loved Kyo, whether she realized it or not.

But he didn’t want to think about that anymore. He didn’t want to be bitter anymore. Kyo, albeit unknowingly, had given him what he always dreamed of. He had opened up his future. He could be whatever, whoever, he wanted.

He had his whole life in front of him now. All those possibilities. He could do anything. He could smile now, really smile, knowing he had a chance at true happiness. No more secrets, no more lies. And he owed it all to Kyo. Even if he knew now that Kyo was a reason that there was one thing he could never have.